Students

MMCC7000 – Media and Social Media

2023 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor
John Potts
Contact via 9850 2163
10Ha 165J
Monday 10 - 11
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MRes
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Media and social media dominate our political, social and cultural landscapes. This unit investigates their multilayered dynamic by incorporating a range of disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary approaches within media, communications, cultural studies and media arts. It surveys approaches to media and representation in the broad media and communications discipline. A section of this unit specifically addresses issues in social media. Students will explore how academic research can be utilised to study a rapidly evolving cultural reality and technological infrastructure.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: demonstrate a coherent knowledge of the principles, methods and concepts within a discipline area.
  • ULO2: develop and demonstrate a high level of oral, written, and discipline specific communication skills.
  • ULO3: communicate research principles and perspectives situated in a disciplinary area.
  • ULO4: apply informed and logical judgments to the arguments of others.
  • ULO5: synthesize and apply ideas to new contexts.

General Assessment Information

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of ‘0’ (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue. This late penalty will apply to written reports and recordings only. Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs will be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special consideration application.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Research Essay 50% No 11. 55 pm, 11/06/2023
Seminar Presentation 20% No 11.55 pm, 22/05/2023
Essay 30% No 11.55 pm, 24/04/2023

Research Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 46 hours
Due: 11. 55 pm, 11/06/2023
Weighting: 50%

This essay requires students to critically engage with current literature and undertake in-depth independent research.

Refer to iLearn for further information.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • demonstrate a coherent knowledge of the principles, methods and concepts within a discipline area.
  • develop and demonstrate a high level of oral, written, and discipline specific communication skills.
  • communicate research principles and perspectives situated in a disciplinary area.
  • apply informed and logical judgments to the arguments of others.
  • synthesize and apply ideas to new contexts.

Seminar Presentation

Assessment Type 1: Presentation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: 11.55 pm, 22/05/2023
Weighting: 20%

Students will be required to present on a specific unit topic.

Refer to iLearn for further information.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • demonstrate a coherent knowledge of the principles, methods and concepts within a discipline area.
  • develop and demonstrate a high level of oral, written, and discipline specific communication skills.
  • communicate research principles and perspectives situated in a disciplinary area.
  • apply informed and logical judgments to the arguments of others.
  • synthesize and apply ideas to new contexts.

Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: 11.55 pm, 24/04/2023
Weighting: 30%

This essay requires student to critically engage with unit content and independent research.

Refer to iLearn for further information.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • demonstrate a coherent knowledge of the principles, methods and concepts within a discipline area.
  • develop and demonstrate a high level of oral, written, and discipline specific communication skills.
  • communicate research principles and perspectives situated in a disciplinary area.
  • apply informed and logical judgments to the arguments of others.
  • synthesize and apply ideas to new contexts.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Readings will be provided by the convenor. Some readings are available online for download, as detailed in the Unit Schedule.

Unit Schedule

MMCC7000 Unit Schedule

 

Week 2: 27 February – Introduction to Media and Social Media (John Potts)

 

Week 3: 6th March - Media Studies (John Potts)

Reading: Turner, G. (2015), 'Introduction', Re-Inventing the Media, London and New York:

Routledge. pp. 1-15.

Background Reading: Cunningham, S., and Turnbull, S. (2014). 'Introduction' and The Media

and Communications: Theoretical Traditions', The Media and Communications in Australia 4th

Edition. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. pp. 1-30.

 

Week 4: 13th March - Cultural Studies (Nicole Anderson)

Reading: Nicole Anderson and Katrina Schulnke, 'Introduction: Theory to Practice' in Anderson

& Schulnke, Cultural Theory in Everyday Practice, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009

 

Week 5: 20th March - Writing (Willa McDonald)

Reading: Rachel Robertson, Daniel Juckes, Marie O’Rourke and Renee Pettitt-Schipp

"An ambiguous genre: thoughts on creative non-fiction and the exegesis", Text: Journal of Writing and Writing Programs, Special Issue, 44, The Exegesis Now ed's Craig Batty and Donna Lee Brien, Oct, 2017. http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue44/content.htm

Jen Webb, Jordan Williams and Paul Collis "Talking it over: the agony and the ecstasy of the creative writing doctorate", Text: Journal of Writing and Writing Programs, Special Issue, 44, The Exegesis Now ed's Craig Batty and Donna Lee Brien, Oct, 2017.http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue44/Webb_et_al.pdf

 

Week 6: 27th March - Screen Studies (Stefan Solomon)

Reading: David Bordwell, 'The Viewer's Share: Models of Mind in Explaining Film' (2012)

at http://www.davidbordwell.net/essays/viewersshare.php

Week 7: 3rd April - Music (Julian Knowles)

Reading: Hesmondhalgh, David and Negus, Keith (2002) 'Introduction - Popular Music Studies:Meaning, Power and Value'. In David Hesmondhalgh and Keith Negus (eds), Popular Music Studies. London: Arnold, pp. 1-10.

 

MID-SEMESTER BREAK

 

Week 8: 24th April - Creative Arts and Media Arts (Jon Burtt)

Reading: Barrett, Estelle. 2010, 'Introduction’, in Barrett Estelle, and Barbara Bolt (eds) Practice

as Research: Approaches to creative arts enquiry, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan) pp. 1-13

 

Week 9: 1st May - Social Media 1 (Tai Neilson)

Reading: Crawford. (2021). Data. The Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence. Yale University Press. 

 

Week 10: 8th May - Social Media 2 (Tai Neilson)

Reading: Citton. (2017). From Attention Economy to Attention Ecology. The ecology of attention (English edition.). Polity Press. Intro-Ch 3

 

Week 11: 15 May - Media Disciplines and Sub-disciplines (John Potts) 

 

Week 12: 22nd May - Student Presentations (John Potts)

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.


Unit information based on version 2023.01R of the Handbook